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Fallen Angel
Mulder is informed about a government cover-up of a UFO crash site, but finds that a fellow UFO enthusiast is also interested in the find. Summary A U.F.O. crashes in the woods outside Townsend, Wisconsin. A sheriff deputy investigates but is killed in a flash of light. Meanwhile, in a military control room, a technician tracks the U.F.O. but is told by Colonel Henderson to write it up as a meteor. Henderson calls his superiors and launches Operation Falcon. Mulder heads up to Wisconsin based on the advice of Deep Throat. He sneaks into the woods where the military is performing some sort of clean-up operation on the U.F.O. Mulder takes photos of the site but he gets caught and thrown into a fenced cage, next to a U.F.O. fanatic, Max Fenig. The next morning Scully shows up to yell at Mulder and tell him that the X-Files are in danger of being shut down by Section Chief McGrath because of his behavior. Scully believes that the crash site is not a toxic spill, but rather a Libyan plane with a nuclear warhead, an explanation Mulder doesn't believe. Meanwhile in the woods the invisible occupant of the U.F.O. passes through the electronic perimeter fence around the crash site. Mulder and Scully return to Mulder's hotel room, where they find Max trying to escape out the bathroom window. Max is familiar with Mulder's work on the X-Files based on research of his travel expense reports through the Freedom of Information Act. Max brings Mulder and Scully to the trailer he lives in, where he shows them audio of the sheriff deputy who was killed in the woods. Mulder and Scully visit the widow of the sheriff's deputy who died. She says the government won't release her husband's body for burial and she was threatened with the withholding of his pension if she said anything to anyone. Meanwhile soldiers under Henderson's command search for the U.F.O. occupant only to be severely injured by radiation emitted from it. They are brought into a doctor who was similarly threatened when he examined the deputy's body. Scully stays through the night to help, but the vast majority die by radiation burns. Mulder returns to the hotel parking lot where Max's trailer is parked and finds Max inside, having a seizure. When the convulsions stop, Max reveals to Mulder that he has epilepsy. As Mulder helps Max lie down, he discovers a red scar in the shape of a triangle behind Max's ear. Looking at other X-Files, Mulder finds similar scars on two alien abductees. Scully is skeptical of Mulder's claims about Max being an abductee. The military once again tracks a craft over Townsend, WI, this time one much larger. Something enters Max's trailer, causing his ear to bleed. Mulder and Scully find Max missing from his trailer, but track him down to a waterfront dock, where the military is also pursuing the U.F.O. occupant. Mulder enters a building where he finds Max. The alien is also in the area however, and knocks Mulder away. Mulder sees Max floating in the air, encased in blue light; he vanishes seconds later. Back in Washington, Scully and Mulder report to McGrath, who is unsympathetic to their claims, claiming that Max's body was found in a cargo container hours after they left. While McGrath's committee decides to shut down the X-Files and fire Mulder from the Bureau. However, that decision is vetoed by Deep Throat. Background Information *The last line of dialogue in this episode - Deep Throat's warning to Section Chief McGrath, "Always keep your friends close, Mr. McGrath, but keep your enemies closer" - is a paraphrased quote from the movie ''The Godfather Part II'', in which the lead character, Michael Corleone (played by Al Pacino), says, "My father taught me many things here... he taught me in this room. He taught me, 'keep your friends close but your enemies closer.'" Michael Corleone was, of course, quoting, Chinese general and military strategist Sun-tzu (400 BCE) who said, "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer." *Only thin piano wires were used in the scene where Max Fenig is suspended in the air while being abducted, and no additional effects were added in post-production needed. *Lynne Carrow, one of two casting directors working on The X-Files at the time this episode was made, was particularly proud of finding Canadian actor Scott Bellis for the role of Max Fenig, due to a general bias of casting actors from Los Angeles in leading roles. According to producer Howard Gordon, Bellis was cast as Max Fenig after he "came in and just knocked our socks off". *Max Fenig returns in the Season 4 two-parter "Tempus Fugit" and "Max", but his introduction in this episode serves as a kind of precursor to the first appearance of the Lone Gunmen in the later Season 1 episode "E.B.E.". Both they and Max Fenig are rebellious characters, working against an American government who they believe is covering up the existence of extraterrestrials. Also, both Max Fenig and Richard Langly of the Lone Gunmen have long hair, glasses and are generally "scraggy" in their appearance. *This episode also foreshadows the eventual shutdown of the X-files that takes place near the end of the Season 1 finalé, "The Erlenmeyer Flask". However, the writers "hadn't the slightest clue" that would eventually happen, according to Howard Gordon, who claims that the point was "to remind the audience what Scully was there for in the first place" - namely, to act as a skeptic compensating for Mulder's devoted belief in the paranormal and, from the FBI's perspective, to discredit his work whenever possible. Guest Cast Guest Starring *Frederick Coffin as Section Chief Joseph McGrath *Marshall Bell as Col. Calvin Henderson *Scott Bellis as Max Fenig *Jerry Hardin as Deep Throat Co-Starring *Brent Stait as Corp. Taylor *Alvin Sanders as Dep. Sheriff J. Wright *Sheila Paterson as Gina Watkins *Tony Pantages as Lt. Fraser *Freda Perry as Mrs. Wright *Michael Rogers as Lt. Griffin *William McDonald as Dr. Oppenheim *Jane MacDougall as Laura Dalton *Kimberly Unger as Karen Koretz References SEMICOLON-SEPARATED LIST OF ITEMS/LOCATIONS REFERENCED IN EPISODE (BUT NOT LINKED TO IF ALREADY LINKED IN SUMMARY OR GUEST STARS SECTIONS) Category:X-Files episodes